When corporate media began inundating us with the message that millions will die from COVID-19, government leaders mandated “shelter-in-place” and quarantine measures, and Dr. Fauci said we must maintain this “new normal” until a vaccine is available, a 2010 Townsend Letter article about the 2009 swine flu pandemic kept popping to mind.
The article, “The Infection Deception: Unanswered Questions About the Swine Flu Controversy” by Len Saputo, MD, and Byron Belitsos, delineates several issues that could just as readily be applied to COVID-19.1
Like today’s pandemic, the US response to the swine flu involved a national state of emergency in the face of highly inflated predicted deaths. Then, as now, the emphasis was on finding a vaccine while downplaying (or ignoring) immune support measures and treatments. Questions about the reliability of mortality data also arose. In the case of swine flu, CDC advised states to stop testing on August 30, 2009, before the epidemic had ended. Investigative journalists at CBS News tracked down the actual death rates state by state after CDC stonewalled their Freedom of Information Act requests for the data. In addition, WHO recategorized all cases of common flu as swine flu, according to their own website.
This time around, immune support has gotten more publicity—at least, online. More people have turned to vitamins C and D, elderberry, zinc, and other supplements. Naturopathic and integrative doctors are amazed to find conventional colleagues asking for advice about ways to maintain their health in the midst of the epidemic. That’s the good news.
On a more sobering note this time around, anything that challenges the CDC/WHO message that shelter-in-place and physical distancing must remain the “new normal” until a vaccine is available is quickly and roundly disparaged and censored. In a local news interview in late April, two physicians, who run multiple urgent care facilities in California’s Kern county, publicly questioned the need for quarantine measures, now that health care facilities are not being overwhelmed. The test results from patients at their clinics indicate a death rate of 0.1-0.3%, which is in line with other epidemiology reports. Further, consultation with virologists and epidemiologists convinced them that the damage from keeping businesses closed outweighs the threat from the virus. The interview was pulled from YouTube because it contradicted WHO’s advice.2
The whole idea of mandating vaccination has also changed since 2009. In 2009, New York mandated the swine flu vaccine for all health care workers; a New York Supreme Court judge issued a restraining order, preventing the mandate from being enforced. Over the past years, multiple states have passed legislation requiring specific vaccinations in order to attend school; and mandated flu vaccination is common for health care staff. If a vaccine becomes available for COVID-19, will the courts side with health care choice? Stay tuned….
Jule Klotter
- Saput L, Belitsos B. The Infection Deception: Unanswered Questions About the Swine Flu Controversy. Townsend Letter. February/March 2010; 66-74.
- Watch: “Dr. Erickson COVID19 Briefing” Censored by YouTube. April 29, 2020. https://off-guardian.org.
